US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and a prominent supporter of cryptocurrency, to serve as Commerce Secretary. Lutnick, who has been a key figure in Tether's operations on Wall Street, was initially considered for the Treasury Secretary position but will now oversee the country's trade and tariff agenda. Cantor Fitzgerald, a leading financial institution, has been involved in the bond market and has also explored cryptocurrency, including a bitcoin financing business and managing Tether's US Treasury-backed stablecoin. Lutnick has expressed his support for bitcoin, advocating for its classification as a commodity and praising its decentralization and resistance to censorship.
As a close friend and ally of Trump, Lutnick is well-positioned to lead the Commerce Department and shape the country's economic policies.